I was rather taken aback the other day when I heard that Pope Francis said that, “Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.”

Here is a short transcript from ABC News of the speech he gave at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan:

“The cross shows us a different way of measuring success. Ours is to plant the seeds. God sees to the fruits of our labors. And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and not produce fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.”

In case you would like to hear Pope Francis say this himself, here is the video:

So, did the life of Christ, “humanly speaking,” end in failure? And was the cross of Christ a failure? It was if you see the need for a continuing sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Mass.

The unbiblical Mass offers a bloodless sacrifice through the ritual of Transubstantiation, which basically means, that the bread and the wine used in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is actually transformed by the priest into the actual flesh and blood of Christ, although the bread and wine do not change appearance.

The passage most frequently cited in support of this is found in John chapter 6, especially verses 53-54:

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

The Catholic Church interprets this literally, hence the doctrine of Transubstantiation. However, Jesus followed up the previous verses with verse 63, which says, It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Jesus stated that His words are “spirit.” He was using the example of eating and drinking to teach a spiritual truth. Just as consuming food and drink sustains our physical bodies, likewise, we are saved and sustained by spiritually receiving Him, by the grace of God alone, through faith alone. The example of eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking His blood is completely symbolic of fully and completely receiving Christ in our lives by faith.

Evidently Pope Francis, following Catholic dogma, believes the life of Christ ended in failure at the cross because His death and resurrection alone was not enough to provide salvation. Therefore, to the Catholic, in order to “receive Christ,” they have to partake of the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. In other words, Jesus must be re-sacrificed again and again. That being the case, then for Rome, the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary was a failure.

In their eyes, salvation is accomplished not from the death and resurrection of Christ, almost 2,000 years ago, it is an ongoing work. This of course flies in the face of New Testament truth, and is a contradiction of the following Scriptures:

Hebrews 10:10: By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Peter 3:18: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

Hebrews 9:27: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time withoutsin unto salvation.

Hebrews 7:26-27: For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

The last verse blows the unbiblical doctrine of Transubstantiation out of the water. We do not need a priest to offer up another sacrifice, daily, weekly, or anytime, because Jesus offered Himself FOR SINS ONCE FOR ALL.

So, “humanly speaking,” was the life of Jesus and His death on the cross a big failure? To borrow a word from Paul, GOD FORBID. The life of Jesus was holy, and without sin.

1 John 3:5: And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

1 Peter 2:22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

1 Peter 1:19: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

When Jesus died on the cross, God the Father was pleased.

Isaiah 53: 10: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

It was only through the death of Christ that salvation is obtained for mankind. Here is a true biblical prophecy of the death of Jesus, crucified for sins, and raised from the dead over 700 years before it happened.

When Jesus was “bruised” it refers to His death by crucifixion, and the fact the He was a sin offering. The prolonging of His days is a reference to His resurrection from death and eternal life. And when it says he will see his seed, it means that untold millions of people will be saved from the second death through His “once for all” death; they are the “seed” or offspring as a result of His death on the cross.

Was the cross a failure? No, it is the only means of salvation. Paul called it the power of God.

Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The gospel of Christ is the power of God which leads to salvation to those who choose to believe. His death, burial, and glorious resurrection, is the power of God–think of that!

That is why Paul also said that those who are the enemies of the cross deny the “power of God.” They have to, in order to sustain unbiblical doctrines such as salvation through the false doctrines such as Transubstantiation.

Philippians 3: 18: For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.

Paul also said that one of the major sins of mankind during the final days of planet Earth will be those who pretend to a form or style of godliness, yet deny through their unbiblical doctrines, the power of God (which is the pure gospel of Christ).

2 Timothy 3:5: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

So Pope Francis is wrong, totally and completely wrong! The infallible Pope of Rome claims that “humanly speaking” the sinless life, and selfless sacrifice of Christ, was a failure. That reminds me of something Kenneth Copeland once taught–that the biggest failure in the Bible was God!

Kenneth Copeland with Pope Francis

Birds of a feather do flock together, considering that Reverend Copeland and the Pope had a little meeting at the Vatican in June of 2014.

Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many… Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before… Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. Matt. 24: 4-5, 11,23-26

Believe the Bible, not the unbiblical myths of men. They are Pharisees, and they will bind you up with burdens of doctrine, hard to bear. We have been warned.

The Antichrist, and the Beast system of Babylon the Great, are both important parts of the prophetic picture in the Bible. Get the book, increase your knowledge of Bible prophecy and you will not be caught off guard by the coming Strong Delusion. You may get the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at other fine bookstores as a print on demand title. At Amazon you may get the book on Kindle, and if you have Kindle Unlimited or Kindle Prime you may get a copy through those programs as well.

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PRAY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

Born-again Christians are being persecuted today like never before. Despotic governments, radical religious factions, and the Islamic beast are persecuting and murdering Christians in unprecedented numbers.
Many Christians are being tortured and killed, and in some places modern-day crucifixions are taking place. So when you pray, please remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering horribly because of the rampant evil that is in the world.
Its getting worse and will continue to increase as time moves forward. In fact, many of these people think they are doing service to God by murdering Christians, just as Jesus predicted (John 16:2). I will be writing more on this in the near future but in the meantime please pray for the persecuted church. Jeff Wingo